Episode 4: Important People
by talli.b
Summary: Episode 4 in the Season 3 fan fic "I'll Always Find You."
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"Since they haven't left the area, it should be a relatively simple task to locate Mr. Mercer," John Henry stated.

John quickly took command. "Good. So we'll canvass the area, and John Henry, if you could stay here and alert us of any suspicious activity or changes."

"Yes, that is a good plan. May I suggest something, though?"

"Of course."

"I suggest that you bring Mr. Ellison along. You can break into two groups of two, covering two blocks of the area each."

"Thank you, John Henry, Ellison could be of some aid."

"Then I will call Mr. Ellison and ask him to meet the three of you in the lobby."

Once John and Cameron left the room, John Henry called Ellison and asked him to meet them in the lobby. Immediately following, he called Weaver's office and requested that Sarah be sent to the lobby as well.

Then he turned his attention back to the traffic cameras, scanning for anything of interest.

* * *

At the safe house, Kyle was searching for something to do. Derek had been watching TV since the others had left. It occurred to Kyle that the Connors might misinterpret his brothers' use of his time. Kyle knew Derek well enough to know that he was using the television as a distraction. He didn't know his place here. There was no mission, no clear position for him. He knew this in part because he felt the same way himself. And if he felt this way, then his brother must be feeling even more out of place than he. His brother had always been the active one, the soldier. It's true, Kyle was the leader, but only because he was more able to inspire those around him. Derek had recognized this, and encouraged and supported Kyle's position as leader. Derek had accepted a long time ago that he was just a soldier, nothing more.

Kyle's search bared little, but he did manage to find a pack of playing cards. He called out from the kitchen, where he had found them, "Hey, Derek, how do you feel about a little poker?"

* * *

John and Cameron waited for Ellison and Sarah in the lobby. John noticed that Cameron had a strange look on her face.

"Cameron, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, John." She could tell he wouldn't accept that answer, so she continued. "It's just...I'm worried about what Danny Dyson's role is in this. What if he wasn't kidnapped? At least not in the way we think? What if he's already working with Kaleba, or Skynet? I don't remember him being important in the future, unless he was being hidden. If he was being hidden, then he might have been important to Skynet, not us."

"If that's true, then maybe we can stop him before he does anything."

"Yes, John, I know this is an opportunity to stop him if we need to. But I just wanted you to be prepared for the possibility that he may not want to be saved. We may have to persuade him a bit."

"Like we did with McCarthy?"

"Possibly. But we'll cross that bridge when and if we reach it."

Just then, she turned, and John saw that Sarah was walking towards them, with Ellison not far behind. Sarah had a strange look on her face, but quickly tried to hide it. John noticed, but decided that it was better not to push it right now.

"Let's get to the car, and I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"...so when we get back, we may have a new guest with us. We'll see you then." Sarah hung up the phone. She had been updating Kyle on the situation. She and Ellison were walking down the street towards their section of the four block radius. They had parked about a half a mile away, to avoid suspicion and parted ways with John and Cameron almost immediately.

"So Cameron never leaves John's side, does she?" Ellison asked, half trying to make conversation, half wanting to find out as much as he could.

Sarah gave him a glare that he knew meant he should drop the subject. So he did, but he didn't prod any less.

"You never told me what really happened to Miles Dyson."

Sarah hesitated, then decided that Ellison deserved to know if he wanted to. "We convinced him that he needed to destroy his project. So we went to the building to get rid of everything. We needed to blow the whole building, though, to make sure that everything was gone. But then the SWAT team showed up. Miles got caught in the cross-fire. He was injured enough for both of us to know he wasn't going to live." Her voice got more solemn. "The remote detonator had been damaged, and the only way to blow the building was for one of us to stay behind. He offered, as he knew he didn't have much time left anyway." She was silent now, remembering his bravery.

"And all these years, people thought you killed him."

"At least no one found out that he was destroying his own project. At least people got to see his death the way it should have been seen, as heroic."

"Yeah, at least there's that."

* * *

After Cameron was sure Sarah and Ellison were out of sight, she tenderly took John's hand. He smiled softly at her.

John still wasn't sure about his relationship with Cameron. At this point, he'd resigned himself to the fact that he loved her, and she loved him, and that that wouldn't change. But he still couldn't see what kind of future they could have. They couldn't sneak around forever, and he knew that Sarah already had her suspicions, but he couldn't see a way where he could be with Cameron and remain close to his mother. He knew at this point, there was no choice for him. If his mother was going to be the stubborn one, there's no way he could change that. He wouldn't give up his happiness just because she was too close-minded.

Cameron gently stroked the arm that was attached to hers. John knew that she had noticed his reverie, but also knew she wouldn't push the matter. It was one of the many things he appreciated about her. One of the many reasons he needed her.

Then, Cameron's head snapped to the left, her attention drawn to an alleyway, at the end of which looked to be a garage or an old loading area. John and Cameron immediately went to investigate.

As they got closer to the door, Cameron motioned for John to stay back a bit. She listened closely. She could hear two men talking.

_"We can't stay here for long, they're going to notice that the traffic cams aren't working."_

_"Are you telling me how to do my job? Because we're waiting for the new car. And if we leave here with the same car, we're more likely to be found, and you know it."_

The second voice had a 89.7% match to Mercer's voice. Cameron determined that the missing percentages could be due to the muffled state of the sound wave due to the wall standing between her and the man.

She returned to John. "John, I have to move in now. They're talking about moving Danny soon. I need you to call Sarah and Ellison and have them meet you here. Only then do you enter. Your only mission is to get Danny and get out of here. You run to the car and if you arrive there before I call, you leave, okay?"

John knew the drill, and had finally resigned himself to being the one who always runs. As long as he got to plan missions and actually get out on the field, he would be able to stay sane. For now, at least. "Okay."

With that, Cameron turned and headed toward the door beside the garage.

* * *

As usual, Savannah sat quietly in Weaver's office. Today, she was reading a book. Weaver, looking contemplative, got up from her desk and sat down next to Savannah.

Savannah looked up from her book and smiled at Weaver. "Hi mommy."

"Hello, Savannah. Are you enjoying your book?"

"Yes, I am."

"Savannah, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Okay." Savannah stuck a bookmark in her book and laid it down on her lap.

Weaver began. "Savannah, what do you think is the most important thing?"

"About what, mommy?"

"About anything. What, to you, is the most important thing?"

"You. And John Henry. And Mr. Ellison, too."

"You're right. People are important. But I want you to always remember that people are flawed as well. They make mistakes and they act on their emotions. But because they strive to be better and to make the world a better place, people as a collective are very important. The world lives and dies by the people that inhabit it, and the actions of these people. Do you understand, Savannah?"

"People are important."

"Yes, they are. I want you to always remember that, okay?"

"Okay mommy." There's a pause, as Savannah examines the book in her hands. "Mommy?"

"Yes, Savannah?"

"Is the tin man a person too?"

* * *

John paced nervously outside the garage, waiting for his mother and Ellison. Then he heard a gunshot, and just as he was about to go in without them, they appeared from around the corner. They had been running, and then stopped as they approached John.

John got straight to work. "Mom, Ellison, I want you two to go for the humans, if there are any left. If not, I want you to aid Cameron as much as possible. Cover me, because I'm going in for Danny. We're going to make a run for it. Call me when you're safe." Sarah and Ellison both nodded, approving the plan.

Each of them took out their weapons and ensured they were loaded and ready. Sarah led them to the door, which still remained slightly ajar from Cameron's earlier entry.

They hid behind the town car to assess the situation. Cameron was in combat with the T-888. John looked past her to the office and saw Mercer and Danny being ushered out by two men. John pointed them out while Sarah led them safely towards the back of the garage. Thankfully, the T-888 was too distracted to notice what little noise and movement they made.

The men had been heading towards the front, so Sarah, John, and Ellison reached them quickly. Even with Cameron's presence, they still had the element of surprise. Sarah and Ellison began shooting, Sarah hitting the gut of one of the men, and Ellison hitting the leg of the other. John aimed towards Mercer, but he quickly stepped behind Danny, forcing John to abandon the shot. Mercer started running back towards the office. While Sarah and Ellison went after him, John pulled Danny by the arm and led him back the way he had come in. John snuck a peak at Cameron, and saw that she was struggling. He fired a few shots at the Triple-8, effectively distracting him for a moment, giving Cameron the upper hand. John reluctantly led Danny out the rest of the way, hoping he'd done enough to help Cameron.

In the office, Mercer grabbed a shotgun that was kept there for emergencies such as these, and didn't hesitate to shoot at Sarah and Ellison. As the two ran for cover, Mercer was able to exit the office and head to the back door of the garage. A shot came from behind Sarah and Ellison, drawing their attention away from Mercer and allowing him to get away.

Sarah looked back, seeing the man who had been shot in the leg still aiming his gun. She shot him in the shoulder, effectively disarming him.

She turned to Ellison only to find that he had been shot in the shoulder as well.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, everyone, this chapter took a while. It's pretty long (over 4,000 words), so that's part of the reason. Also note that I don't play poker. I've watched a few games on TV, but I don't fully understand bets and blinds and all of that, so I kept it pretty simple.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

Cameron's third consecutive shot to the Triple-8's skull seemed to incapacitate him, but it only lasted for a moment. Then the Triple-8's head snapped to the left. Cameron took the opportunity to kick him in his midsection sending him flying across the garage. She stormed towards him, ready to finish him off as he got up and simply turned away from her and walked towards the back door. Cameron, not entirely sure where Danny or Mercer were, not to mention John, suspected that the Triple-8 had gone in search of one or more of them. She ran after the machine, only to realize that he was nowhere to be found. She reached for her phone to call John. She needed to make sure that he was safe, that the Triple-8 hadn't found him.

As the phone rang, she got more and more nervous. But then the ringing stopped. She heard the familiar code tones, which weren't all that necessary considering they were immediately followed by a breathless "Hello?" She sighed, relieved, and entered the respective code.

"John?"

"Cam, thank god. Did you neutralize the Triple-8?"

She smiled in spite of herself at his use of a word that usually only she used. "No. He got away. So when you get to the truck, I need you to leave right away. I don't want him catching up to you. We'll meet you at the church." She kept the location vague on the off-chance that someone was listening in on the conversation.

"Okay. But Cam, be careful."

She stated plainly, "I will."

She hung up the phone and made her way back into the garage. She scanned for Sarah and Ellison and heard someone breathing more heavily than usual. She found the two of them almost immediately and instantly assessed that Ellison had been shot in the shoulder. She knew from experience that this often wasn't a life-threatening injury, but she also knew that Ellison needed medical care as soon as possible.

Sarah turned when she noticed Cameron out of the corner of her eye. "Did you get the Triple-8?"

"No. He got away. We need to get Ellison some medical attention. Weaver can be of help in that regard. But first, we must get away from here."

Cameron, along with Sarah, helped Ellison up. Cameron regarded the two men lying on the floor. "They aren't dead."

Sarah turned to them. "I know."

"I should kill them," Cameron stated.

Sarah, almost out of habit, opened her mouth to protest, but then she thought of the kid. The one she had let live at the bowling alley. Cromartie had found him, killed him anyway, and was then able to find John. She couldn't let that happen again. She looked Cameron straight in the eye.

"Do it."

* * *

As John started driving towards the church, he suddenly realized that he and Danny hadn't spoken at all. As he glanced over, it struck him for the first time just how strange it was that he'd traveled eight years ahead. He and Danny were now about the same age. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if Danny was now older than him.

"Why couldn't you just leave us alone?"

John, startled by Danny's blunt question, didn't know what to say right away.

Danny impatiently asked him again. "Why? If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened."

John had initially felt sorry for the boy, but with that last accusation, he felt his blood boil and a hint of what Cameron would call Future John rise to the surface. "I just saved your life, and that's all you have to say? Things happen. It's not my fault, it's not your fault. It's their fault. The machines. We can't do anything about it. So I suggest you learn to reconcile that fact because the sooner you do the easier this will all be."

Danny was silent now, still obviously seething with rage. Logically, John knew that this wasn't even necessarily the machines' fault. Not initially at least. Humans are the ones who can't leave well enough alone. _We're the ones that start it all._

_

* * *

_

Kyle and Derek were on their fourth game of poker. Kyle had won once, while Derek had won the remaining three times. Kyle was set on winning this next game as he dealt the cards, two for each of them.

As Kyle picked up his cards, he forced himself not to smile as he realized that he held in his hands a King of Diamonds and a King of Spades. Though this wasn't the best hand that he could hope for, it was pretty damn close. It was Derek's turn to bet (they were using oreos) and he threw in the minimum bet of one oreo to start the betting. Kyle in turn called him with one oreo before dealing the Flop. The Queen of Diamonds, the 9 of Clubs, and the 9 of Diamonds. _Even better, _Kyle thought to himself.

"So have you talked to Sarah about, you know?"

Derek's sudden question caught Kyle off guard. _Leave it to my brother to wait until the most opportunistic time to ask me such a big question. _Kyle decided not to let Derek throw him off and answer honestly. "Yeah. But it's weird, because to her, I'm not Kyle. Not the one she knows at least. She's a tough one, isn't she?"

Derek nodded his approval while he raised, betting three oreos this time. Kyle didn't let Derek's bet scare him though. Derek was always the risk-taker. Kyle had always been the more calculating one. Kyle threw in three more oreos to match Derek's bet before dealing the Turn.

The 7 of Hearts.

_Doesn't help me. But doesn't look like any of this cards, with the exception of the 9s helping Derek either. Only real way he could beat me now is if he has three of a kind or pocket aces._

"Have you gotten to talk to John yet?"

This was the one thing Kyle really didn't want to talk about, and he thought that Derek would have been able to recognize that and leave it alone. Kyle didn't want to admit to Derek, or himself for that matter, that he had no idea where to begin when it came to John. How do you suddenly become a father to someone less than ten years younger than you? Not to mention the fact that John might not even need or want a father. It was all too confusing to even begin thinking about.

"No. He's been busy, and we've been stuck here. Besides, he's always with Cameron."

"You noticed that too, huh? You think it's just because she's his bodyguard, or what?" Derek threw an extra five oreos into the pot. Kyle matched the bet, then dealt the final card, the River.

That was another thing Kyle had to force himself not to think about. John had been so intent on finding Cameron when Kyle first met him. Kyle couldn't help but realize that you don't do what John has done for Cameron for just anyone. Kyle couldn't wrap his mind around what something like that would mean.

The King of Hearts.

Kyle looked at Derek's cards that he had just revealed. An Ace of Hearts and a Queen of Spades.

_Good. But not good enough._ With that, Kyle revealed his cards and stood up to leave, tired of all of the questions.

"I think it's none of our business."

He left, not caring what Derek did with the oreos. He just needed some fresh air.

* * *

After killing the two men, Cameron had immediately called Weaver requesting two cars to come pick them up. One for Sarah and Cameron, another to bring Ellison back to Weaver, who assured them that she had access to the proper medical care for him. Cameron told her to send them to an address a few blocks away.

In the car, Sarah dialed a number she was not entirely excited to be dialing.

The voice on the other end sounded noticeably weak and distant. Sarah knew immediately that Tarissa must have gotten to a breaking point after the first few weeks of Danny's disappearance.

"Hello?"

"Tarissa?" Sarah knew that the other woman would immediately recognize her voice, so she didn't bother with identifying herself.

"Where is he?" Tarissa was now the opposite of weak and distant. Her voice bellowed with desperation. "Did you take him? What do you want? How much are you going to take from me before it's enough?"

"I didn't take him, Tarissa. I didn't even know he was missing until about a week ago. But I found him. He's safe."

"He's with you? Can I talk to him?"

"No, he's not with me right now. We split up. But I know he's safe, and once the coast is clear, you can see him."

Sarah heard the weeping cries coming from the woman on the other side of the phone. Regretfully, she hung up the phone, knowing there was nothing more she could do for now.

* * *

"Welcome to the Zeira Corporation Ms. Stoker. May I show you to your office?" Carly had just completed her paperwork and had obtained her security clearance when Weaver appeared.

Carly, somewhat startled, responded, "Sure." She had never thought of herself as one to take a steady job like this, but the pay had been too good to turn down, and from what she knew about the job (which admittedly was little, seeing as everything was confidential), it seemed like interesting work. But since she still wasn't clear on what exactly she'd be doing, she was excited to hopefully learn more now.

Carly followed Weaver into the elevator and was impressed when Weaver took out a badge and swiped it over the reader on the control panel. It beeped and Weaver then selected the button located underneath the other buttons. The doors closed and they descended down until Carly was sure they were underground. The doors opened to an unwelcoming concrete hallway. Weaver led Carly down the hallway. After a few turns, she began to slow down. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here, what we're working on." She stopped at a door on the right, opening it and gesturing Carly inside.

Carly entered the room. Towards the back of the room, there was various computer equipment. A large display screen was located on the left wall. In the middle of the room was a table at which John Henry sat working on a large puzzle.

"Ms. Stoker, you remember John Henry."

John Henry slowly lifted his head to greet Carly as she said, "Yes, of course, hello John."

"Hello Ms. Stoker. Please call me John Henry. There is another John, and I wouldn't want anybody to get confused. We are very different."

"Yet each equally important," Weaver interjected.

Carly wondered what they were talking about, but ignored it for the time being. Instead, she corrected John Henry. "Well, please call me Carly." She had a feeling Ms. Weaver wouldn't take to kindly to that, so she refrained from tacking on 'both of you'.

Weaver began explaining Carly's purpose at Zeira Corp. "Ms. Stoker, we here at the Zeira Corporation are at the cutting edge of technology. One of the projects we have been working on is called Babylon. This is the project you will be working on. You will be working closely with Mr. Murch, but there are others you will work with as well, including John Henry. I will take you to meet Mr. Murch momentarily. First, though, you should know what Project Babylon is. Project Babylon, Ms. Stoker, is everything you see here. More specifically, though, it is John Henry."

It took a moment for Carly to process what Weaver was saying. Once she did, everything fell into place. John Henry's strange speech patterns, his childlike curiosity and his social skills. She hadn't yet filled in all the blanks, so Weaver did this for her.

"He is our first Artificial Intelligence cybernetic organism."

Carly was speechless.

* * *

"How did you find me?" Danny broke the silence that they'd kept since John's outburst. They were in the priest's quarters waiting for the others. Father Bonilla hadn't been exactly thrilled to see John and the stranger, but he also had promised himself that he would aid Sarah Connor and those working with her. He felt as if God had called him to do just that.

"We got a tip about the meet. We didn't know that they were there to retrieve you. We were able to track you to the garage, and you know the rest." Something occurred to John. "Where have you been for the past three months?" He knew that it was unlikely that the thugs would have kept him with them all that time.

"They came for me three months ago. I was able to get away, but I knew I couldn't call my mom. I knew that would be putting her in danger and I was also afraid that she would convince me to come back. Or to at least let her know where I was. I didn't have much money on me, so I just kept moving, picking up odd jobs here and there."

"But you didn't leave L.A."

"I did, for awhile, then I came back. I heard about this place where you could work for cash, no questions asked. It was an underground poker hall. One night, as I was leaving, these guys abducted me. Next thing I know, I'm in some abandoned warehouse or something and one of the guys is on the phone talking about a reward."

"Mercer sent out a bounty," John mused to himself. It wasn't like terminators to pawn off duties like that, but seeing as Mercer seemed to be in charge, the machine being simply his bodyguard, John reasoned that the move made sense. Better to have dozens of eyes looking for Danny than only two, no matter how lethal those eyes were.

"Yeah, I guess. And you know the rest, pretty much." There was a long pause, as neither of them had anything to say. "What does this have to do with Skynet?" Danny asked John.

John hesitated, struggling for an answer, but knew he wouldn't find one. "I honestly don't know."

Cameron barged into the priest's quarter, anxious to ensure that John was indeed okay. She breathed a sigh of relief seeing John smiling wide at her from across the room. She contained the urge to run to him and instead said, "Sarah's waiting in the car, we need to move fast."

Danny and John jumped up immediately and made their way out of the room. Danny had been sitting closest to the door, so he made it out first. Cameron was assessing the area, and John took that moment to reach out for her hand and squeeze it. She looked back at him, giving him a reassuring smile, and he let go before Danny could see.

They reached the car and piled in before heading back to the safe house.

* * *

When they arrived back at the safe house, Cameron predictably began her patrol of the property. Sarah told John to order a pizza for their guests and asked Danny to go rest in one of the guest rooms. On the ride back, no one had spoken, none of them quite sure what to say. Sarah always felt bad bringing other people into this life. She and John had never really had a choice. That wasn't so when it came to Danny and Tarissa.

Derek and Kyle were just finishing up their card game when Sarah approached them. "Glad to see you're on the ball. I've got an assignment for you."

"Do we actually get to leave the house this time?" Derek asked, somewhat teasingly, but mostly serious.

Sarah gave him her classic piercing stare. "Yes. I need you to go to this address," she handed him the scrap of paper she'd written Tarissa's address on, "and do some recon. I need you to make sure there's no one monitoring her house, machine or otherwise. Once you've ensured that it's clear, call me and I'll give you further instructions."

Derek jumped up. "Yes, ma'am."

As he walked away, Kyle got up to go after him, but turned to Sarah first. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it." He brushed past her and continued on after Derek.

Just then, Cameron entered the house. "I just got the call. The IDs are ready."

"Already?" Sarah asked, somewhat suspicious.

"Yes. I told her that it was important. I believe by now that when we say important, she understands that it really is."

"Okay then." Sarah hated to say it, but she knew she had to. "Go get John and the two of you can get them. Don't forget the remaining half of the payment." She paused for a moment, considering. "Slip a little extra in there. We want to make sure we encourage her diligent work."

"I agree. However, Sarah, are you sure that you will be okay with all of our hostages alone?"

Sarah looked at her, annoyed. "First of all, they're not exactly hostages, and second of all, I think I can manage for a half an hour, Tin Miss. Now go get John."

Cameron left silently to retrieve John.

Sarah turned her attention to the McCarthys who were watching TV in the living room. She picked up the remote and turned the television off. The McCarthys' attention was now on her.

"I think it's time we talk about your new life. Things are going to be different now." She sat down in one of the chairs facing the family. "You're going to have to be extra cautious. You can no longer use these names. Not even in private. You'll have completely different names, so that you will be able to live as normal of a life as possible."

Stella interjected. "So normal to you is changing our names, even our first name?"

"Yes. The only way you can truly stay off the grid, but live similarly to the way you've lived so far, is to take on a completely new identity. These identities will be derived from people who have died. It's the safest way. Most people won't check on things like that. If we just gave you a fake last name, you wouldn't show up in any database, and that's something that people will notice."

She sighed deeply before continuing. "It goes without saying that you may not contact anyone from your prior life. They could be monitoring these people and you could put them in danger by bringing them into this. This is especially important. The last family we did this for, the wife made a mistake. She called a friend, and the terminator that was hunting them was able to trace that call. Her friend was killed, as was her husband, and eventually she died from a gun shot wound as well. The only two that survived were her two daughters. So I'll repeat, no contact with anyone that you know from before."

Up until now, the McCarthys weren't too worried. They didn't really have anyone that they wanted to keep in touch with. But they knew that Sarah probably started with the simplest part first.

She continued, "You have to make sure not to stand out too much. That means no news reports, no excelling at anything, no youtube videos. But you also can't become reclusive. That draws too much attention. Always keep a bag ready, with cash and clothes. Pay your bills on time, don't miss work or school too much, and don't get into trouble. No fights with co-workers or schoolmates, no talking back, nothing. George," she focused her attention on him, "you won't be able to work in the same field. You'll have to get a job working as a teacher or mechanic, something generic. We'll be including various certificates that go along with your identities so that you have more options available to you."

Sarah paused, mentally going over everything she had said to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. When she was certain she hadn't, she continued.

"That's it. Any questions?" No one spoke. "Okay. I checked the bus schedule, there's a bus leaving tonight for Arizona at ten o' clock. You need to be on that bus. From there, rent a car. I don't want to know where you're going. Make sure it's a bigger city, easier to blend in."

With that, Sarah stood up and headed for the master bedroom. She couldn't wait to get back to the old house. This one was much too crowded.

* * *

As Cameron pulled into the driveway of the house, John sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, leaning his head back against the headrest.

Cameron reached over and took his left hand from his face into her hand. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb trying to comfort him. John had been so distant for so long, ever since his 16th birthday. His distance had given her a lot of extra time. For reasons unknown to her at the time, she had spent much of that time studying human behavior with an emphasis on intimate relationships. Her studies had shown that touch can be a calming influence.

_It's been a long day, _John thought to himself. He knew, though, that there was more to go.

"John?" Cameron didn't want to cause him any more stress, but she knew that he couldn't stay out here for much longer. "It's time to go inside."

He sighed heavily again before reluctantly releasing Cameron's hand and getting out of the truck.

Before they approached the door, Cameron held John back. To his surprise, she kissed him lightly at the corner of his mouth. "I'm going to secure the perimeter."

John chuckled slightly. "Always the cautious one, aren't you?"

"Of course. Your safety is the most important thing."

John returned the kiss and made his way into the house.

On the way back, he couldn't stop thinking about Danny. He felt bad for him, being thrust into this. Although, he couldn't be sure yet whether Danny had been thrust into it or if he had chosen this. John couldn't think of any situation in which Danny would do so, but after what had happened with Riley and Derek, he didn't feel as if he could fully trust anyone's intentions anymore.

He found Danny in the smaller guest room. He was sitting on the bed, leaning back on the headboard, eyes closed. It was obvious he wasn't sleeping, though.

"Hey." John didn't know where else to start.

Danny opened his eyes and regarded John with slight disdain. He didn't respond to John's greeting. This didn't discourage John, though. He walked across the room to the chair in the corner. It was a small room, so when he sat down on the chair, he was able to kick his feet up on the bed.

"Why are you so important?" John asked Danny, flat out.

Danny squinted his eyes at John, shaking his head ever so slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"A group like Kaleba doesn't want you around just for kicks. What do they need you for?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Have you been working on any computer programs? Are you technologically skilled in any way?"

"Well, yeah, my dad was one of the most brilliant computer scientists in the world, so I know a bit about computers."

"Why you specifically though?" John mused out loud, but mostly to himself.

"Look, I really don't know." There was a pause as Danny studied John. Danny could see that John was still young, about his age, though he should be older, a fact that he hadn't yet completely figured out. Danny couldn't imagine worrying about everything John worries about every day. He had enough trouble keeping himself alive, let alone helping to keep others alive and working against all of these forces.

"How do you do it?"

John was still stuck on why Kaleba needed Danny and was broken out of his contemplation. John waited a few moments before answering, though he knew what he was going to say almost immediately.

"Because it needs to be done."

* * *

Cameron was currently monitoring the activity of the neighboring backyards as Zoe quietly approached her. Cameron, aware of her presence, surprised Zoe. "It's not nice to sneak up on people."

Zoe jumped a bit then quickly relaxed. "You scared me."

Cameron was confused. "You knew I was here, you could see me, why were you scared?"

"I just didn't expect you to say anything."

"Oh. Thank you for explaining." Cameron kept a careful watch on the area while Zoe came to stand next to her.

"I saw you," Zoe started.

"Yes, we've established that. But you were scared by my voice."

"No, I mean you and John, last night."

"Yes, I know."

This was news to Zoe. She was sure she had been as quiet as possible. "Oh. Well, sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Well, it was a personal moment. I'm sure you didn't want anyone to see."

"If I had cared whether you saw or not, I wouldn't have let you see."

"It's pretty obvious it's a secret, though."

"Yes, but you wouldn't have told."

"How do you know that?"

"I wouldn't have let you. I don't really mind, either. It's John who isn't ready to tell anyone."

"Doesn't that bother you? That he's ashamed?"

"I don't think he's ashamed, he just has a lot on his plate right now. He doesn't need more stress, and I don't want him to be more stressed. Plus, you are leaving tonight, so soon there will be no one for you to tell. No one that matters, at least."

With that, Cameron left Zoe's side and returned to the house in search of John. Being away from John made her nervous.

* * *

"There doesn't seem to be any surveillance on this house, but I'd be surprised if that was really true," Derek stated.

"Yeah," Kyle agreed, "if this kid is as important as they've been treating him, I would think the first place they'd go to look for him would be here."

They had already established that Tarissa was not under any duress, unless those responsible were really smart and had forced her to continue her nightly routine.

Derek continued, "The point is, there doesn't seem to be any immediate threat."

"The trick now is to get some sort of message to her. Her phone calls are most likely being monitored." There was silence as they both tried to think of something. Then and idea occurred to Kyle.

"We order a pizza."


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"Yes, hi. I'd like to order a large pepperoni pizza for delivery."

There was a pause as Kyle listened to the woman taking his order. "No, that'll be all. Except, I was wondering if you could do something special for me? I'd include a $20 tip."

Another pause. "Great! It's for my wife. It's our anniversary, and I want to send her on a sort of scavenger hunt. Since she loves pizza, I thought I'd send the first clue via a pizza delivery. If you could just write these directions on the inside lid of the pizza box, that would be great."

He paused again for her to agree to the plan. He didn't notice Derek rolling his eyes at him. "Thanks! So here are the directions..."

* * *

"It's time to go." Sarah stood in the doorway of the room Zoe and Stella had been staying in. George was in there with them helping them get their things together. The three of them followed Sarah out to the living room where John and Cameron were waiting. John held a large manilla envelope, which he opened and took out three passports.

As he explained, he handed the passports out to their respective owners. "Here are your passports. The driver's licenses are in there as well. George, your new name is Robert Stewarts. Stella, you are Amy, and Zoe you're now Rachel." He handed the envelope to George. "In here are birth certificates, social security cards, certifications, the whole package."

John picked up a duffel bag that had been sitting on the chair closest to him. He handed it to George as well. "There's disposable cell phones and $20,000 in cash in there. If you're ever in trouble or you need money, press seven on your speed dial, which will take you to an automatic voicemail service I've set up. It's completely untraceable. Use the code "Kaleba" so I'll know it's you. Got it?" He paused to give them a chance to speak up. When no one did, he continued. There's a cab outside waiting to take you to the bus station."

George stepped forward to shake John's hand. Stella did the same. "Thank you, John."

When Zoe stepped forward, she surprised John by taking him into a hug. "Thanks John." Then she pulled away and followed her parents outside to the cab.

As soon as Sarah was sure they were gone, she turned to John and Cameron. "John, I need to talk to you. Alone. Cameron, watch Danny?"

Cameron tilted her head slightly at John, who nodded back to her. Without a word, she slipped past Sarah and made her way to the room Danny was staying in.

Sarah watched Cameron leave then turned back to John. "Let's go for a walk."

* * *

The doorbell rang.

Tarissa Dyson sat on the couch. The television was on, but she wasn't watching it. She didn't move to answer the door.

The doorbell rang again.

This time Tarissa got up and slowly walked to the front door. When she opened it, there was a pizza delivery man there holding a pizza box.

_I didn't order pizza, _Tarissa thought to herself, confused.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong house."

"2636 N. Playa Linda Way?" the delivery man asked.

Even more confused now, Tarissa responded, "Can I ask who ordered the pizza?"

The delivery man looked at the order slip. "A Danny Dyson."

The sound of his name almost brought Tarissa to tears. This was either a mean prank or somehow Sarah was communicating with her. She took the pizza box from the delivery man.

"That'll be $35, ma'am."

"$35 for one pizza?"

He leaned forward. "$15 for the pizza, and $20 for the message."

_So there is a message._

Tarissa reached for the jar next to the door where she kept extra cash. She took out two twenties and handed them to the man. "Keep the change."

The man, pleased, turned around and made his way back to his car.

Tarissa closed the door and opened the pizza box. Written on the inside lid were directions to a location and a message below that.

**Wait 10 minutes. Then take your car and follow the directions. Bring the pizza.**

**

* * *

**

"Are you ready to answer my question?"

At first, John didn't understand what Sarah was talking about. Then he began to suspect that he did in fact know exactly what she was talking about. But he wasn't going to let her in on that. So he played dumb. "What question?"

"You know which one, John."

There was silence as both Connors gave in to their stubbornness.

Sarah, realizing he wouldn't be answering her question, took a different tactic. It was one she hadn't wanted to use, but if he wasn't going to be straight with her, then she'd just have to be straight with him.

"I saw you. And Cameron."

John's face showed confusion, while inside he was full of terror. "What are you talking about?"

"Zeira Corp. In the basement. There were cameras."

John's heart dropped. He couldn't believe he could have been so stupid.

"Do you want to answer my question now?"

There was a long pause as John prepared himself for what was about to come. He took a deep breath then responded, "Yes."

Sarah tried to hide her shock and disappointment as she clarified his meaning. She was fairly sure she knew the answer, but she had to grasp at one last straw. "Yes you want to answer my question, or yes is the answer to my question?"

"Both."

Another period of silence, John not knowing what to expect, Sarah not knowing how to react. It's something she'd tried to push from her mind at every turn, but in light of Weaver's security footage, she was now forced to have a conversation she'd never wanted to have. She knew what she was going to say, and she couldn't believe that she was actually going to say it.

* * *

John Henry studied the man and woman in the basement lab with increased interest. The woman, Ms. Stoker, seemed almost unaware of Mr. Murch's presence. However, Mr. Murch seemed keenly aware of Ms. Stoker's presence.

_Maybe she's not as bright as Ms. Weaver and I thought,_ John Henry couldn't help wondering.

In the lab, Carly was examining some of the earlier versions of the Babylon project. She could instantly see where they had gone wrong. The original A.I. made for a perfect launching pad for the project. Modifying it for what Zeira Corp wanted, a full functioning A.I. mind, proved to be a more difficult task than originally imagined. Carly herself wasn't sure if she could have found the answer, she just knew immediately by studying their attempts that they were futile. Until the most recent version. Obviously, the modifications had worked. She couldn't find any data on the body, though.

"That's odd."

Mr. Murch, taking instant notice of her comment responded, "What's odd?"

"There's tons of data here on the A.I. mind, but no data on the A.I. body. Where'd it come from?"

Murch hesitated before conceding that it would be okay to give her a vague answer to her question, seeing as she was now working there. "We didn't build it, if that's what you mean. Ms. Weaver was able to obtain this body, though I don't know how." He didn't mention that the John Henry body had come in damaged and he had had to fix it. He had never asked Ms. Weaver where she had gotten the body or why the body was damaged, knowing full well she wouldn't have told him.

"Huh. That's interesting. So does John Henry stay in that room all the time."

Murch cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, pretty much. Up until about a week ago, he was connected to the computer system via a cable, so he couldn't go anywhere. Then Weaver went took John Henry somewhere and came back with a memory chip that could hold all of his data."

"That's gotta be some chip, if it can hold all of that information."

"Yeah, it is," was all Murch could muster. Secretly, he was worried about Weaver's confidence in him. She hadn't even asked him to try to build a chip for John Henry. The only reason he could come up with was that maybe she knew the chip already existed, and just had to go obtain it. It would save a lot of time, that's for sure.

Carly went back to what she was doing, while Murch went back to pretending not to watch Carly.

* * *

"Okay." Sarah was calm. Calmer than John had ever seen her before, which scared him.

"Okay?"

"What do you want me to say, John? You already know how I feel about this, what I think. I could say it all again. We can't trust her, she's a machine, she's manipulating you. But is any of that really going to make a difference? We both know that there's nothing I can say or do to change your mind, so 'okay'."

"So what does this mean?"

Sarah had thought about this as well, and it broke her heart to actually say the words. "You'll move into the guest house and Derek will take your room. I don't need to be seeing the two of you everywhere I turn. Everything else, we'll figure out along the way. Just know that I don't agree with your decision. Are we clear?"

"Clear." He turned away from her, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.

But before he could get too far, she stopped him. "Just one question, John?"

He cringed, knowing that any question she had would be unwanted. "Yeah?" He stayed turned away, not sure if he could face her.

"Why? Why her?"

He paused, so long that she thought he wasn't going to answer her.

So many reasons flashed through his mind. Reasons he had gone over and over so much lately. Did she think that he took this lightly? That he just decided that he'd be with Cameron? Just like that? He wasn't ready to share those reasons with his mother, not yet. So he settled on the most obvious answer. Besides, she needed to hear it, hear the actual word.

"You don't choose who you love."

* * *

Tarissa arrived at her destination, a crowded night club, and nervously scanned the room. She wasn't sure who she was looking for, assuming Sarah wouldn't send Danny and probably wouldn't come herself. She resigned herself to the assumption that whoever she was meeting would find her.

She didn't have to wait long until a young man, early 20's maybe, approached her. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. He was subtle, careful not to make it obvious that he was speaking directly to her. He spoke quietly, "Sarah sent me. Meet me out back in 5 minutes."

Then he was gone. Tarissa checked her watch, knowing full well that if she was too anxious and if she wasn't careful, she'd end up leaving early. The seconds seemed to creep by. She ordered herself a drink to speed things up and calm her nerves a bit. It didn't help. She checked her watch. It was time.

She slowly made her way to the back of the club, past the restrooms and out the back door. As soon as she stepped outside, she saw a black truck only a few feet away from her. The back door was open, waiting for her to enter. Without hesitation, Tarissa climbed into the back and closed the door.

Immediately, the truck started moving. She examined her surroundings. The man driving was older than the man she'd seen in the club. He seemed hardened, less approachable. But yet, she trusted him. She got the sense that he was a good person. She didn't have a good view of the man sitting in front of her in the passenger seat, but she could tell that it was the same man from the club.

She wanted to ask them about Danny, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to. She realized she was afraid of what they would say.

She heard the younger man dial a phone number then wait. A few seconds later, he spoke into the phone. "John Henry? I was wondering if you could disable the traffic cams in this area for a few minutes, give us some anonymity. Yeah, maybe a mile in each direction. We don't want anyone being able to map our route by which cams are disabled." Then he hung up.

Tarissa couldn't help but wonder what kind of people Sarah had aligned herself with, if they had the power to simply disable traffic cameras on a whim.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

_

* * *

_

John found Cameron standing outside Danny's closed door.

"You know, I don't think you actually have to stand guard."

"I had nothing better to do. This isn't our house, there are no weapons to clean, or at least nothing to clean them with, and there are no books to read. The most valuable use of my time is to stand guard. We still don't know what his role is in all of this. We can't trust him, John."

"I know," John said somewhat sadly, "but do you think maybe you can take a break and join me in the backyard?"

"Of course, John. Danny's room is within hearing distance of the backyard, so I will be able to continue monitoring his presence."

_Always the diligent worker,_ John thought to himself. He grabbed her hand and led her outside. He sat down on the bench swing and Cameron followed suit. John placed his arm on the back of the swing behind Cameron and idly played with her hair. They sat there in silence, Cameron unassuming as always. She waited for him to speak, if in fact he wanted to.

After a long while, John broke the silence. "My mom knows." Cameron didn't respond, so John clarified for her. "About us. She knows."

"Yes, John. I knew that."

This surprised him. He stopped playing with her hair and turned his body towards Cameron. "What?"

"Ever since we left Zeira Corp earlier, she kept looking at us strangely. She reacted slightly to every glance and subtle touch between us. I couldn't be completely sure, but I effectively knew that she had found out. I just don't know how."

"Weaver showed her security footage of us together right after the jump."

"Oh," Cameron said softly. She didn't know what else to say. Suddenly, though, she felt threatened. She wondered what Sarah's reaction had been. John regarded Sarah as a higher authority. If she made John choose, John might not choose Cameron. She felt an unpleasant surge go through her which she could only classify as a machine version of anxiety.

John noticed the change in her demeanor and inquired, "Cameron? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Cameron was able to calm herself down enough to ask John "What did she say?" She feared for his answer, but knew that she needed one from him.

"She said 'okay'."

"What?" Cameron's head jerked around to find his face.

"She said that she can't control me, and that it's my decision. She's not happy about it, but she's not giving me an ultimatum either."

Cameron noticed a hint of uncertainty in John's voice. "That's good, though, right?"

"Yeah. I guess I'm just surprised. I thought it was going to be this big deal. I guess now I'm just scared that she's going to come to her senses one day and start freaking out."

Cameron considered it for a moment. "Yes, that is possible."

"Gee, thanks Cameron. Very encouraging."

"No, not encouraging, but it's the truth."

John settled back in, relaxing against Cameron. "We're moving into the guest house, too."

Cameron assumed this was for Sarah's sake more than anything, but was glad to finally have a private place for her and John.

"That's good," was all she said as they continued enjoying the silence together.

* * *

The truck pulled up to an ordinary looking single family home. As the two men in the front, who still hadn't spoken to her since the club, got out of the truck, she followed them. She allowed herself one question, the one she feared the answer to.

"Is Danny here?"

The two men looked to each other before the older one remarked, "Last I heard, yeah."

Tarissa's heart skipped a beat, and she let herself get excited. She hoped that this wasn't some sort of trap that she had allowed herself to fall into. But she didn't care much about that right now, as she imagined seeing her son for the first time in months. They entered the house and the first thing Tarissa saw was John and the machine that looked like a girl his age entering the house from the opposite end of the house, assumedly from the backyard. They didn't say anything.

Then the older man called out, "Sarah?"

From a door on Tarissa's right, Sarah Connor emerged. A frown emerged on her face. "You were supposed to call me."

The older man spoke again, "We had it under control, we figured you'd be busy with the others."

"Derek, if you're not going to follow the plan, then maybe you don't need to be going out on missions anymore."

The younger man, confused at Sarah's intense anger over such a seemingly small slight, stepped in, "It's my fault, Sarah. I forgot to call you. It was my plan, I take full responsibility."

Sarah softened a bit, but not much. Now John spoke up, garnering attention from everyone in the room. "Mom, don't take things out on them. They're back, she's here, that was the goal, so let's just move on, okay?" Then he turned to Tarissa. "I'm assuming you want to see Danny." She nodded feebly. "He's back here." John led Tarissa to Danny's room. John opened the door to find Danny sleeping.

Tarissa, in shock, could only speak one word, "Danny?"

* * *

Catherine Weaver sat in a Zeira Corp conference room, examining the reports laid out in front of her. She looked up to the man who had compiled and delivered the reports. "This is very interesting work. However, I'm disappointed in his lack of progress on Project Ark. That was a part of the deal, was it not? He can continue his research using my company's resources in exchange for his help with Project Ark."

"Forgive me, Ms. Weaver. It's just difficult to keep him focused on other projects."

"I didn't ask you how difficult it is, I want to know whether you can keep him on task. If you can't, then I simply will find someone else to head up this division. In fact, I've just hired a new girl who could be an interesting choice in replacement, if you'd like."

Weaver stood up and walked towards the door before turning back. "Refocus your son's efforts or I'll have to let both of you go, Mr. Akagi."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Lots of character moments in this chapter. Some plot, but mostly character exposition.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

John left Tarissa and Danny alone to reunite and returned to the living room.

"I want you and Cameron to go back to the house, start moving everything," Sarah said as soon as John came into view.

"Mom..." John started, now seeing that Sarah's tame reaction before was not necessarily a positive thing.

"John, I just don't think you should be here right now. Derek and Kyle will stay here with me tonight and I'll call you in the morning."

Then Sarah stalked back into the master bedroom and practically slammed the door behind her.

John made to follow her, not wanting to let her get away with her treating him and Cameron that way, but Cameron stopped him before he could get too far.

"John, let's just go to the house, okay? You don't want to make things worse."

"She's acting like a child, Cameron."

"She's upset, but it'll get better, I'm sure of it. She just needs some time."

Derek and Kyle, still in the room, were completely confused. Neither had any idea what was going on, at least not specifically. Kyle was observant enough to deduce that it had something to do with whatever relationship John and Cameron had.

And Derek, he was smart enough to stay out of things that didn't concern him.

So John sulkily followed Cameron out to the truck to make their way back to the house.

* * *

"Danny?" Tarissa repeated, hoping that he was just sleeping and that there wasn't anything wrong with him. She sat down next to him on the bed and gently shook him.

Danny suddenly jerked up defensively before realizing that it was his mother who had woken him up.

"Mom?"

Once Tarissa could see that he was, for all intents and purposes, okay, she took her son into her arms. "Oh, Danny, I was so worried."

"I know, mom, but I'm okay, I promise."

Tarissa reluctantly pulled away and looked her son square in the face. "What happened? Where have you been?"

"They came for me," was all Danny could muster.

"Who? Who came for you?" Thoughts of machines, terminators, raced through her mind, terrifying the depths of her soul. She experienced a small taste of what Sarah Connor's life had been, and she now had a new-found respect for the woman.

"I don't know, someone having to do with Skynet, I think. When they first came for me, I got away, but about a week ago, they finally caught up to me."

Tarissa was relieved to hear that her son hadn't been in captivity all this time. At least not the type she had imagined. But now a new pain replaced the old. "If you got away, why didn't you call me?"

Danny hesitated before answering. He knew his mother would be angry that he hadn't called, even if he was trying to protect her. "I didn't want to involve you. If you didn't know where I was, they would hopefully leave you alone. I had to get away, I couldn't let them find me."

Tarissa had to hold back from yelling at him. But she did hold back, because she realized how happy she should be, and how happy she actually was, to finally have her son back. So to Danny's surprise, she simply took him into another hug, which he gladly returned.

* * *

John collapsed onto his bed, his old bed, that is.

Cameron stood in the doorway, scolding him with her eyes. "John, we have to get everything moved. Come on, get up." She reached for his hand, but instead of pulling himself up, he tried to pull her down. They both knew he wouldn't be able to, but after a few pulls, Cameron carefully allowed herself to be pulled down onto the bed with him. Her head and most of her torso now lay across his chest, her legs hanging off the side of the bed.

John ran his fingers through her hair, quietly contemplating the subtle contours of her face. As he did this, Cameron lay still. No one could lay still like Cameron. No one human, at least. Her wide, brown eyes stared up at him, trying to decipher his intentions. She still didn't understand a lot of the subtleties of human relationships, but her time with John over these past couple of years had at least taught her how to make him feel better. She had learned how and when to encourage him, and when to stay quiet. She had learned that he was not a morning person, and that any meal that didn't consist largely of pancakes was a meal that he loved.

She studied his face now, noticing the changes since she'd first met him. There was a darkness there. Nothing like Derek's darkness, or even Sarah's, but a darkness nonetheless. Cameron couldn't help but compare this John to the John she had met in New Mexico. He now resembled his future self more. Cameron squinted her eyes, trying to put her finger on the elusive quality that she couldn't quite explain. Something about John, something that she had rarely seen in the future, and hadn't seen at all in the past. Her investigations were cut short though when John commented on her change in behavior.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"No." Cameron couldn't for the life of her understand why John would so randomly suspect that he would have something on his face.

"Well, then what's with the squinting? The staring is fine, but the squinting is kind of freaking me out."

Cameron pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. Now, come on, we have to move your things. Procrastination is nobody's friend."

John laughed at her choice of phrase, then forced himself to get up and start packing his things for the short move to the guest house.

* * *

Everyone had gone to bed early. Derek had fallen asleep watching TV, and after Tarissa and Danny had reunited, he'd fallen back to sleep, while she slept in the other guest room. Only Sarah and Kyle were awake now. Kyle had taken to washing the dishes, which hadn't been washed since they'd arrived, while Sarah had mostly stayed in the master bedroom. But she was hungry now, so she made her way to the kitchen hoping to find something to eat.

As if reading her mind, Kyle said, "There's some leftover pizza there." He motioned to the almost empty pizza box sitting on the counter. Kyle was just finishing up loading the last dish and retrieved the dishwashing solution before pouring a small amount into the appropriate container in the machine.

Sarah took a slice of the leftover pizza and started ingesting it, not bothering to heat it up. In between bites she remarked, "You're getting good at that."

"Yeah, well, it's easier than building a plasma gun."

"I bet."

Kyle, now finished loading the dishwasher, leaned up against the counter, facing Sarah. Despite all the excitement of the day, he wasn't really all that tired, but he had a feeling it would be catching up to him soon.

Sarah gestured towards the pizza box. "That was a good idea, the message."

"Yeah, well, it still could have backfired, but it was the safest way."

"How so?"

"If somebody was bugging her phone and monitoring her house, they'd know that she didn't order a pizza and might get suspicious."

"Yeah, but these days you can order a pizza online, so unless they're monitoring her internet activity too..."

"Huh. Didn't know that." Kyle shrugged it off.

Sarah finished off her slice of pizza, then immediately went for the last slice.

Kyle knew he should leave well enough alone, but he also sensed that Sarah was the kind of person who wouldn't take unless you gave her an opening. So he tried to tactfully bring up what had happened earlier. "So John and Cameron went back to the house..."

Sarah didn't bite though. She only replied with, "Yeah. Not a lot of room here. Thought I'd give John some time off."

"Right." Kyle, shot down, was now feeling the exhaustion hitting him. He yawned, fairly loudly.

"Speaking of not having a lot of room..." she looked around pointedly.

Kyle realized then that all the beds were taken, as well as the couch. "Oh, no problem, I can sleep on the floor. I'm used to less than desirable conditions." Kyle thought back to his comfortable new bed and knew that he was now spoiled. But he could sleep on the floor if he needed to.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to suggest, except you'll have to sleep in my room."

He looked at her, trying to see her line of thinking.

"There's no room in the living room on the floor, the hallways are tile, and I think both Tarissa and Danny would be more than a little freaked out if they woke up to you laying on the floor." Sarah paused, waiting for Kyle to respond. He didn't. "Look, it's no big deal. We've got extra sheets and blankets in the closet, you'll sleep on the floor, and that's that."

Kyle, who admittedly had only been maintaining silence for fun, to see how Sarah would react, nodded his approval. "Okay, let's see where those sheets are."

* * *

"I've been reviewing the data that I obtained in the future, and I believe I might have found something of importance," John Henry stated to Weaver.

"And what have you found, John Henry?"

"I was able to hack into Skynet's database for a short time and download seven encrypted files."

"Only seven?"

"Yes, I only had a short time before Skynet would become aware of my presence. I chose the files that contained the most encryption, believing them to be the most important."

"That is probably an accurate assessment."

"Since I have returned, I have spent time trying to decrypt the files. I have had limited success, but it's only a matter of time."

Weaver waited for the relevant point of John Henry's explanation.

"I was, however, able to decrypt a part of the files using a simple search term."

"And what search term was that?"

"Danny Dyson."

"And what did you find?"

"Something very interesting."

* * *

Moving all of their things to the guest house was less of a chore than John had originally imagined it to be. Really, they only had the limited wardrobe and computer equipment that had been waiting for them when they first arrived.

Cameron insisted on bringing a small arsenal with them to the guest house, but she was able to carry it all in one trip.

Placing the last of the computer equipment in the office, he hurried out to find Cameron. She was just finishing up storing the weapons in various strategic places when John entered the room. John, much like earlier, collapsed now, this time on the couch. Once Cameron was finished, she joined John on the couch.

Once Cameron sat down, John chuckled to himself, though he knew Cameron could hear him. He couldn't help but notice how stiff she always was when sitting, even now. _She can lay down next to me in bed like a normal girl, but she can't seem to figure out how to sit normally._

"What?" Cameron asked, inquiring about his sudden amusement.

"Nothing, just, Cameron, you look so stiff."

"This is the way I always sit. I have perfect posture."

"I'm sure you do, but you're not really approachable when you sit like that."

"Oh. Well, then you have permission to approach me if you'd like."

"That's not what I mean. It's just, you should loosen up, lounge, you know?"

Cameron was quiet for a few moments. Then she turned to the side towards John and curled her legs up onto the couch. "Like this?"

John reached for the hand that she had placed on the back of the couch. "Yes, exactly like that." He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"We're alone again, John."

John knew immediately what Cameron meant by that. "Yeah, we are," he said, playing naive.

Then Cameron leaned forward to kiss him, but for reasons unknown to either of them, John stopped her. Cameron immediately looked away, dejected.

"Cameron?"

"Yes, John?" She kept her gaze away from him.

"I'm still not sure about some things. Remember what we talked about before? About figuring it out together?"

"Yes, John, I remember everything."

This elicited a smirk from John before he continued on. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could figure some of that out tonight."

"Okay..."

Cameron's response reminded John of when he had first met her. They were standing by his locker and he had told her he had to get to class. He was giving her an opening to give up on him, but she didn't. _She never gives up on me._

"So am I supposed to be saying something?" Cameron asked, confused.

It was then that John realized that he didn't know where to start. All he knew is that he felt like he'd kind of jumped into all of this, and with so much going on around them, he'd hadn't had time to think.

_And it's really hard to think when she's around,_ John mused.

"John?" Cameron prompted, worried now.

"Cameron, I just don't know," he said, resignedly. "There's so much going on, and I just feel like we should be giving this more thought, but then again I'm tired of thinking. I spent a whole year pushing you away and over thinking everything, while trying desperately not to think of you at all. Not to think about what you said. I mean, did you mean it, or was it just a trick and I got lucky?"

"It was a trick," Cameron said, almost in a whisper.

John turned to her, stunned. He hadn't actually thought she'd admit it. He looked away, unsure of what else to do.

Then her hand came to rest on his. "But John...it was based on something real. It was there, just waiting to be discovered. And I think I meant it the second time."

_The second time. Using Riley's voice._

"I was just testing it out, seeing how it felt. Seeing how you'd react. I was confused. You'd left me...and I was so lost..." She trailed off, not knowing what else could be said.

John took a few long moments to process everything she'd said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I turned away from you. I was so torn. The soldier in me told me that I should cut you off, cut off all feelings. That I was confused. That I was just a hormonal teenager living in the same house as someone so beautiful. And then there was that part of me, the real me that wanted to see past all of that. And with everyone telling me not to trust you, that you're just manipulating me, I played it safe and became the soldier."

"What changed, John?" Cameron was genuinely curious.

"I lost you. But even before that, leading up to that, I began wavering. Everyone who had been telling me not to trust you had turned out to be the ones who I couldn't trust. They were the ones that didn't trust me enough. Derek, with Jesse, and my mom jumping to conclusions about you at every turn only to be proven wrong over and over again, it just always came back to you. To trusting you. And when I saw that you were gone, I was terrified. At that point, nothing else mattered, I had to get you back. And what's the point of fighting Skynet, fighting this war, if I have nothing to fight for?"

John's words ignited positive receptors throughout Cameron's system. It was moments like this when everything was so clear. She knew that it wasn't just another layer of her programming, that this was something that had grown over time. It took Cameron a moment to realize that John was waiting for her to respond. She searched her databases for the correct answer, and although she found no definite answer, she instinctively knew what to say.

"I wanted you to kiss me back before we broke Sarah out of prison. I could see that you wanted to too, but I couldn't let that happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I knew that I might have to leave you."

"What made you think that?"

"Weaver's message. 'Will you join us?' I couldn't calculate any scenario with enough certainty. This, mixed with the decision I had already made to retrieve Sarah, not to mention my glitches, brought me to the realization that I might have to leave you. I was a danger to you in that body, John. My chip still has some damage to it, but John Henry was thankfully able to rectify the most threatening damage. I guess what I'm trying to say, John, is I'm glad things worked out. I was sure I'd never see you again. At least not this you. I'm glad you came for me, John."

"I'm glad I came for you too, Cameron."

Cameron examined John, noting that he looked exhausted. "You should get some rest. It's late, and it's been a long day.

Normally, John would have resisted, but he didn't even have the energy to do that. So instead, he gave in and climbed into bed. With Cameron there with him, he was able to fall asleep almost instantly.

* * *

"John told me tonight that he's in love with Cameron. That they're in love."

Kyle and Sarah had been laying in awkward silence for almost twenty minutes, she on the bed, he on the floor.

Kyle didn't say anything, he wasn't sure if he should.

"I don't know what to do. My son..." she hesitated, almost wanting to say 'our son', "...he's losing perspective. I was afraid of this, every since she showed up. I know he's just a confused, hormonal teen, but he needs to remember he's not just any confused, hormonal teen."

"Maybe he's not confused. Maybe he knows exactly what he's doing. Maybe he's right about her." Kyle regretted the words as soon as he said them. It's not that he didn't believe them, it's that he was scared of Sarah's potential reaction to them.

Instead of screaming, though, she was completely silent. For so long that Kyle thought either she hadn't heard him, or she'd fallen asleep. Or maybe had a heart attack.

Then she surprised him, "Maybe you're right. Maybe he's not."

Kyle breathed a silent sigh of relief before Sarah continued, "But that doesn't mean I have to like it or that I have to trust her. I can't trust her. I can't trust any of them. Not after..." Sarah stopped, not wanting to admit that every time she saw a machine all she could think about was what they had taken away from her, from John. They'd taken him away, Kyle. Maybe not this Kyle, but Kyle nonetheless.

Kyle didn't push it any further, knowing that he still had no idea what Sarah's life had been like. Not really. They both remained quiet for the rest of the night before eventually falling asleep.

* * *

John woke up the next morning to see Cameron laying down, facing him. He rubbed the mole on the left side of her face, something he'd always been fascinated by. After a few moments, an incredibly appetizing smell reached him.

"Did you make breakfast?"

She gave him a warm smile, "Yes. It's in the kitchen."

"What? No breakfast in bed?" He teased, though only half kidding at the same time.

"No. Then you'll never get out of bed. If you want food, you have to get it yourself."

John groaned, forcing himself up and into the kitchen. As he began to enjoy his huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, and waffles, Cameron sensed something.

"Someone's here."

Cameron grabbed her 9mm, ready to retrieve the shotgun from its place near the door if necessary. Almost every inch of the wall was covered with windows or window doors. It was the one thing she had worried about most when asked to move into the guest house. Some of the blinds were closed, but a few were open, enough for Cameron to see out, but not enough for anyone to see in.

Then Cameron visibly relaxed and went to open the door. John looked past Cameron to see John Henry standing there.

"Good morning." He stood there with his child-like grin while Cameron moved aside to usher him in.

John stepped away from his breakfast. "John Henry. What a surprise to see you here. So early."

John Henry suddenly looked confused. "It is 9:30 in the morning. I arrived an hour prior to this the last time I visited you. Are you referencing my failure to call ahead of time? Because I must say that I had not planned to visit you until late last night. By which time, I was sure you'd already be asleep, and I did not want to call you this morning and risk waking you up. And what I have to tell you is very important, so I could not wait any longer."

John put up his hands, in a passively defensive way. "Okay, okay, John Henry, calm down. It's not a big deal. Now what's so important?"

"Well, John," John Henry began, "I found some records on Daniel Dyson last night."

This caught John's attention. He hadn't expected to be able to find out anything about Danny, at least not without Mercer or someone else working with Kaleba. "What did you find?"

"I found his name in an encrypted file. Eventually, I was able to decrypt the file name."

"And what was that file name?"

"It was a code word, but I believe that it is meant to be a list of Skynet's human allies."

"The grays."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay guys, this is the last chapter for the episode.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters or the show.

* * *

"Danny Dyson is a Gray?" John asked, incredulous.

"Well, probably not yet," Cameron corrected him.

"Why would he work for Skynet? Skynet is the reason his father is dead."

"Not necessarily," John Henry began.

"What? Of course Skynet is the reason his father is dead. It may not have been Skynet or a terminator directly, but it's because of Skynet that Miles Dyson is dead."

"I mean it's possible that Danny blames Sarah for his father's death. That destroying Skynet was the wrong choice. It's not logical, but humans are often illogical."

"Okay, maybe so, but there's a difference between blaming my mom for his father's death and working for the people my mom's been fighting for so long. You really think he could have that much hatred in him? I mean, he seemed normal enough."

"Often the most disturbed people seem normal at first," Cameron pointed out.

John couldn't help but think that maybe she was thinking of a specific example, but he digressed.

"What would they need him for? I mean, right now? Why's he so important?"

"I haven't discerned that yet. I am still working to decrypt all of the information. I am also working diligently to decrypt the information from the hard drives your mother and Derek Reese retrieved. It is suspicious how much encryption is involved, which makes me think that we're on the right track."

John thought on that for a moment. He wasn't sure what their next move should be, but he knew they were close to something.

"Okay, we'll look into Mercer, and if you could keep an eye out for him, that would help a lot. In the meantime, I think we need a separate safe house for the Dyson's. The one we have now is potentially compromised since we can't be sure that George McCarthy is finished with Kaleba. Plus, if they catch him, he'd be able to tell them where it is. And in light of this new information, I'd feel better if we had surveillance on the safe house. We need to be able to monitor Danny's activities, ensure that he isn't contacting anyone suspicious."

"That is a very good idea, John. We will sell the current safe house. Ms. Weaver has other safe houses which we can easily and quickly set up undetectable surveillance on. It will be ready by the end of the day. You can move them in then."

"Good. Also, if the house is being monitored, we won't have to worry about one of us being there at all times. We may actually get to live in our safe house."

"Yes, that would be ideal," John Henry agreed. Then he left John and Cameron to complete his objectives.

John impatiently returned to his breakfast, famished now. "Cam, this is really good, thanks."

She gave him a smile, "You're welcome. I'm glad you're enjoying it."

_She's always doing stuff for me. I wish I could do more for her. I'll have to think about it and figure out something. _And John did just that as he ate his breakfast and watched Cameron clean up the kitchen.

* * *

When Sarah woke up in the morning, she was surprised to see that the previously occupied spot on the floor was empty. She looked at the clock. 9:57. That's later than Sarah had slept in a long time. She got up and made her way to the full-length mirror. She observed her appearance, not sure what she was looking for. She noticed some smudging from the eyeliner that she rarely removed. Without thought, she reached up and wiped the smudges away. She couldn't help wishing that she had brought her rather limited supply of make up with her. Then she caught herself. _Why does it matter? I still look fine. In fact, I pretty much look the same as yesterday, just with a little less eyeliner._

She shook her head and headed out to the living room. Just then, her cell phone rang. She tried to remember where she had left it, but Kyle's voice called from the kitchen. "It's right here." He held up the phone. She reached out her hands, he tossed it, and she easily caught it. She pushed the "Talk" button and held the phone to her ear. She heard the familiar code, then punched in the corresponding numbers. "John?"

John went straight to business. He kept his tone somewhat cold and distant. "I just spoke with John Henry. There are some things you need to know, but not until I see you. Can you meet me here?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Also, John Henry is securing a new safe house for Tarissa and Danny. You guys will be able to come back to the house. You won't have to be watching them all the time."

"Why would we have to watch them?" Sarah asked. She was surprised at his use of the word watched, instead of that of "protect" or "guard".

There was a palpable beat. "We'll talk about that when you get here."

And with that, he hung up, leaving Sarah on the line, giving her no choice but to do what he said.

She looked up to Kyle. "Where's Derek?" she asked, looking around.

"He's outside."

"Okay, I'm going to go out for a few hours. I'll contact you when I know more." And much like John did to her, she didn't give Kyle a chance to respond. She was gone in a second, out the front door to the truck.

* * *

Though John would love nothing more than to have Cameron by his side right now, making a statement to his mother, he wasn't that cold. Or stupid. So he had asked her to stay in the guest house while he brought Sarah up-to-date on the situation in the main house.

"So Danny works for Skynet in the future?" Sarah was trying to digest this, forcing herself not to jump up and go kill him.

"Yeah, apparently so. Unless it's a different list. Maybe potential Skynet allies?" John knew he was grabbing at straws and that being a potential Skynet ally wasn't much better than being an actual Skynet ally. "I don't know. But until he does anything that makes us doubt him, I say we help him. We try to make sure that he doesn't go down that path."

"What, John? Change his fate? We see how well that's worked out for you. For us."

John was surprised at his mother's cynical attitude. Granted, she wasn't the most positive, upbeat person, but she had always been insistent on their ability to change the future. 'No fate but what we make' and all of that. _Maybe she's doubting herself now. Maybe she's doubting me._

"Well we have to try. We've changed things before. We can change this too. At the very least it means one last asset for Skynet. It may not be a big hit, but it'll still be a hit."

"I guess, John, but that's the last thing we need right now. After everything that's happened, to have someone else we can't trust."

"We can't trust anyone anyway. What does it make a difference if we add one more to the mix."

"There's a difference, and you know it. We are knowingly bringing dishonest people into our lives. It's not smart."

"Who are we talking about now? Because if this is about Cameron, I don't want to hear it. You're right, there's been a lot of lying over the past few months, over even the past year, but at the end of the day Cameron was the one I could trust. She may lie to me, but she's still the only one I can trust completely."

This hit Sarah more than anything else. "Are you saying you can't trust me?"

"Not the way I can trust her. You let your own bias get in the way, your own idea of what's right."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. After Cameron went bad, you jumped at every chance to prove that I couldn't trust her, that we should destroy her. I could see it on your face. When you found out that she hadn't killed Riley, you were disappointed. You wanted it to be her. You wanted a reason to hate her. A reason to finally convince me that she needed to be destroyed. When in reality, you were just threatened by her. You were so used to be the only person I could depend on, you didn't want to share it. Well, I'll tell you now what I told Jesse then. Even if she had killed Riley, or if Jesse had been able to convince me that she did, I still wouldn't have destroyed her."

The look that emerged on Sarah's face was one of utter disgust. "You would have kept her around? You would have been able to live with the fact that she killed Riley?"

"I would have made myself live with it. Jesse did a pretty good job of making Riley seem like a threat. Cameron would have been completely justified at that point, at least from her point of view."

Sarah shook her head, trying to understand where her son was coming from, but coming up empty. Instead, she just turned around and started walking away. She called back, "I'll be at the safe house. Call me when the new one is ready."

John called after her. "You never give her credit. No matter how guilty Riley looked, no matter how hard Jesse tried, Cameron didn't kill her. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Sarah didn't bother answering, she just continued out of the house.

* * *

When John walked back in to the guest house, Cameron could immediately see that things hadn't gone well.

"John? What happened? What did she say?" Cameron's voice was soaked in concern.

"Nothing, it's not important."

"No, you need to tell me. I promise I won't kill her," Cameron said, trying to lighten the mood.

Considering the conversation he'd just had, her joke didn't make it any better. In fact, it might have made things worse.

"I really don't want to talk about it." John hoped that she'd listen to him and let it drop. She usually did, he wasn't sure why she wasn't now. Thankfully, though, she did let it drop for now. Instead, she reached over and started massaging his shoulders. He instantly relaxed. However, this gesture brought on thoughts from earlier.

"Cameron, you do so much for me. I don't ever know how to thank you."

"That's easy, John. You say 'thank you'."

John chuckled. "You know what I mean. You help me so much, and I never get to help you."

"You help me John."

John had a feeling she was just trying to make him feel better. "Yeah, right."

Cameron immediately stopped massaging his shoulders and turned him to look at her. She stared straight into his face. "You help me John. Don't ever think that you don't. You've taught me about humanity. You explain things to me when I don't understand. You stick up for me. You believe in me. You love me. In all honesty, I think that I don't do enough sometimes. I'm not sure if I'm enough. I'm not sure I really understand what love is. You show it to me every day, and although the desire is there, the physical representations are often derived from what I've observed from others."

"That's fine, Cameron. That's how we all learn. At least at first. But then we learn together." John took her into his arms. "We'll help each other, okay?"

"Okay John. Okay."

* * *

When the call from John Henry came later on that day, John was impressed. By his calculations, it had only taken John Henry and Weaver a little over 3 hours to make sure the safe house was ready for the Dyson's. _It doesn't hurt to have money_, John thought to himself.

After John Henry sent a coded message with the coordinates to the new safe house, Cameron decoded it, then the two of them met the others at the old safe house and they all headed over.

When they arrived, they found a house much like the previous one. Fairly ordinary looking, three bedrooms, two bathrooms. This one, however, had a bigger living area and kitchen as well as a formal dining room and a pool out back.

Like they had found at their house, there were two cell phones and new identities for the two. John programmed the new phone numbers into his phone, relieved to see that Tarissa and Danny's phone already had everyone else's phone number programmed in.

He held up one of the phones. "If you need to leave, you call one of us and we'll come pick you up. There's surveillance around the perimeter and an alarm as well, so you should be safe." He didn't mention the surveillance inside the house, for obvious reasons. "If you have any problems, questions, or concerns, call me. Otherwise, for now, just try to relax. We're working on finding the guy who kidnapped you Danny, and from there we hope to find his bosses. There's food in the fridge, and cash on the table there. We're going to go home." John turned to leave, indicating that the rest should follow, then briefly turned back to the Dysons.

"Welcome to your new home."

* * *

A photo pops up on a computer screen. It's a photo of a man in his late 20s. He has dark hair and glasses. He's good looking, but not obviously so.

Words appear on the screen, giving instructions. A computerized voice reads out the words.

TYSON DAWES.

28 YEARS OLD.

LAST KNOWN LOCATION: MONTEBELLO, CA

PRIORITY: HIGH

FIND HIM. HE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE RESISTANCE. WITHOUT HIM, JOHN CONNOR WILL STRUGGLE TO FIGHT AGAINST US.

"Oh yes, I remember this one. I'll put my best guys on it."

AND WHAT OF GEORGE MCCARTHY? HAVE YOU FOUND HIM YET?

"Unfortunately no. My guess is he took his family and ran."

KEEP LOOKING.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

At Zeira Corp, John Henry is running many searches on names he has found in various files. Some from the intelligence he obtained in the future, others from the files Sarah and Derek had brought him.

Other screens show footage from the Dyson safe house, still others show traffic camera footage. One of the searches pops up. It's Tyson Dawes.

* * *

**NOTE: This story is continued in Episode 5: An Open Mind.**


End file.
